Adventures in Dandelion Wine

[AngieRae]

Hello all! I am brand new to this site and to making wine. Though I am well versed in other things microbiology such as kombucha, yogurt, fermented foods and even compost in its various forms (but we don't eat that). I decided I needed a new hobby, and am wading my way into wine making because well, Wine.
Through much discussion friends and family I decided that my first venture should be a huge batch of dandelion wine. I searched here and read all that I could find and settled on Yooper's recipe. But of course one gallon just wasn't going to cut it because I bought the kit for 5 gallons of wine and don't have a big stash of equipment to scale it down. In all honesty I do tend to be a pick something bigger than I as a beginner can accomplish as my first project (but it has always worked out so far).
Not once in all the reading that I did, did I notice how labor intensive it was to find and process enough dandelions for a five gallon batch of wine. I think after about 8 hours (there was a bit of a learning curve) I may have about a third of the obnoxious little petals that I need, possibly up to a half. I haven't weighed them yet. But I am running out of time! My DH thinks that going to work everyday is a priority over learning how to make dandelion wine and suggests that I do not quit my day job just yet. So unsupportive, really I just don't know how I put up with this guy!
I am hoping that I will be able to find enough dandelions before they go all white and fluffy, to get this project off the ground. Wish me luck!

AngieRae

 

[S-Met]

Welcome and you will do fine.

You can always cut your recipe in 1/2 or even 1/4th with little modifications to existing equipment.

Ask and many will help.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi AngieRae - and welcome. Despite the fact that brewers tend to promote the idea that making 5 gallons of anything at a time makes more sense than making 1 gallon because it is just as easy to brew a 5 gallon batch of beer as it is to brew 1 gallon, I would argue (as a wine maker ) that swallowing 5 gallons of undrinkable wine is a great deal more challenging than sipping 1 gallon of an excellent wine and that it can take a long time to master what you might call a reasonable wine. And so practicing your protocol with single gallon batches allows you to make five times as many batches as those brewers. The secret is in the protocol not the ingredients.

Just because you bought equipment to make 5 gallon batches does not mean that when you are now condemned to make 5 gallon batches. You are not. And one good source for experimenting with smaller batches is the stabilized juice section of your supermarket - the shelves where they carry Knudsen juices and the like (pomegranate, papaya, etc).

 

[RPh_Guy]

Freeze the petals!

 

[Yooper]

Freeze the petals!

Yep! I freeze them in ziploc bags until I have enough. But it takes a LOT of those little buggers to make a big batch of wine.

When my kids were young, I paid them $1/pound for dandelions. They got wise quickly, realizing that dandelions don't weigh much and I was lucky to get a couple of grocery sacks full of them before they quit!

 

[AngieRae]

Thank you every one for your input and suggestions. My biggest worry now is that the good dandelions are all going to run out before I get enough. I have a tightly packed gallon ziplock in the freezer now. I am waiting for my 3rd grader to get home to go get my next batch for me. I paid him a dollar for the first batch but I don't think he will fall for that one again. I may just have to withhold food until he does my bidding.
I am wondering about how to make a smaller batch with five gallon equipment.

 

[Yooper]

Thank you every one for your input and suggestions. My biggest worry now is that the good dandelions are all going to run out before I get enough. I have a tightly packed gallon ziplock in the freezer now. I am waiting for my 3rd grader to get home to go get my next batch for me. I paid him a dollar for the first batch but I don't think he will fall for that one again. I may just have to withhold food until he does my bidding.
I am wondering about how to make a smaller batch with five gallon equipment.

Can you get some of those cheap "jug wine" jugs? They hold 1 gallon, and a #6 stopper fits them with an airlock. I have various jugs/growlers/bottles for holding top-up wine or odd sizes. If you can't stomach that wine (Carlo Rossi jugs), then see if you can get some from a recycling center? Or put it on Craigslist or one of those Facebook groups sites?

 

[S-Met]

I sometimes buy apple juice in a 1gal glass jug for under $10. At least I can drink or ferment the juice. Cant say the same for the Rossi wine, although wine jelly is an option.

 

[bernardsmith]

Do you have a bucket or a carboy (or both)? I would use a bucket as my primary and you can get two gallon food grade buckets from Home Depot for four or five dollars. The primary never needs to be sealed just covered with a towel to keep out pets and flies - and 3rd graders.
The secondary does need to be sized to match the actual volume of wine - You want a narrow necked carboy that can be filled right up into the neck. Air is the enemy of a wine - It will tend to oxidize your wine and oxidation to wine is like rust to iron..For short term fermentation you could use plastic gallon milk containers (wine is more acidic than milk and alcohol is a stronger solvent than milk so it is possible that the wine can leach out chemicals from the container but unless you are planning to age the wine longer than 6 months I am not sure that I would be overly anxious.

 

[AngieRae]

Can you get some of those cheap "jug wine" jugs? They hold 1 gallon, and a #6 stopper fits them with an airlock. I have various jugs/growlers/bottles for holding top-up wine or odd sizes. If you can't stomach that wine (Carlo Rossi jugs), then see if you can get some from a recycling center? Or put it on Craigslist or one of those Facebook groups sites?

Yes I am sure that I can get the jugs and stoppers. I will just order some. I am sure that I will make good use of them once the wine brewing bug bites me!

 

[AngieRae]

I sometimes buy apple juice in a 1gal glass jug for under $10. At least I can drink or ferment the juice. Cant say the same for the Rossi wine, although wine jelly is an option.

oooh! Smart!

 

[AngieRae]

bernardsmith - I like your analogies. I tend to understand things in pictures. Thank you for being so helpful.

 

[S-Met]

I've never had bad advice from @bernardsmith. Can't say that of everyone on here. Recognize that some are opinions, some are suggestions and some are facts. Some great threads on proper yeast selection as well as how "happy" yeasts produce better products.

My last few ciders have really improved with just a few tweaks to my process, and I owe much of that to his suggestions (that he made to others). I've enjoyed most all of my ferment projects, but recognizing how to identify and remidy the things I didn't like really increase my satisfaction.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Ugh. I'd love to brew a batch of dandelion wine but every square inch of grass in my sub-division has already been shat upon by all of the neighbor's dogs. I love dogs, but FFS walk them in your own yard please!?!? It's getting to where I can't take a drunken, naked frolic in the lawn without worrying about doggy butt-mustard. WTF is this country coming to?

 

[AngieRae]

Ugh. I'd love to brew a batch of dandelion wine but every square inch of grass in my sub-division has already been shat upon by all of the neighbor's dogs. I love dogs, but FFS walk them in your own yard please!?!? It's getting to where I can't take a drunken, naked frolic in the lawn without worrying about doggy butt-mustard. WTF is this country coming to?

The mental image is, um, terrifying? While I have a fenced yard, city ordinances discourage me from naked frolicking in my own yard unfortunately.
Along those lines though, can I do a rinse/wash of the petals in a colander to possibly dislodge at least some of the potential impurities?

 

[bernardsmith]

But some of those "impurities" may need more than a wash in water. Does a simple wash in running water remove e-coli, for example? Although boiling the petals to make a dandelion tea may be all that is needed.

 

[AngieRae]

But some of those "impurities" may need more than a wash in water. Does a simple wash in running water remove e-coli, for example? Although boiling the petals to make a dandelion tea may be all that is needed.

Fair point. I just don't want to be making dog piddle wine. K-9P wine?

 

[RPh_Guy]

All the water in the world is recycled urine.